The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the 17th of which is “Partnerships for the goals,” namely: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.
Under this major goal, there are 19 targets, the 17.8 of which is “Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology.”
Global Internet penetration rates are rising stablyThe Inter-agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDG) has selected the proportion of individuals using the Internet as the indicator to measure progress towards this target. This indicator provides some continuity with the Millennium Development Goals, which used the proportion of the population with access to mobile networks and Internet penetration.The Millennium Development Goal indicators reported that in 2015, 3.2 billion people were linked to the Internet – 43% of the world’s population, and access has more than trebled. This growth has been particularly striking in developing countries, where connectivity has increased by a factor of four, so that now more than 35% of people, or more than 2 billion people, in those countries are connected to the Internet.
Internet penetration rates, 2005-2015 (percentage). Graph: ITU statistics
An annual report released in 2018 by global digital agencies, We Are Social and Hootsuite, revealed that Africa had seen the fastest growth rates in internet penetration, with the number of internet users across the continent increasing by more than 20% compared to 2017. The reported number of internet users in Mali increased by almost six times since January 2017. The number of internet users in Benin, Sierra Leone, Niger, and Mozambique more than doubled over the past year too.The ITU estimated that approximately 5.4 billion people – or 67% of the world’s population – were using the Internet in 2023. This represented an increase of 45% since 2018, with 1.7 billion people estimated to have come online during that period. However, this left 2.6 billion people still offline.Numbers and percentages of individuals using the Internet. Graph: ITU statisticsSource: UNCTAD, Africanews, ITUChina’s Internet industry is developing wellThe China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released its 54th Statistical Report on China’s Internet Development on August 29, 2024. According to the report, as of June 2024, the number of internet users in China has reached nearly 1.1 billion (1.09967 billion), an increase of 7.42 million since December 2023, with an internet penetration rate of 78.0%. As of June, the total number of domain names in China was 31.87 million, of which the country code top-level domain “.CN” accounted for 19.56 million, making up 61.4% of the total and maintaining its position as the global leader for the 10th consecutive year.Data shows that China has seen 7.42 million new internet users, primarily among teenagers aged 10-19 and the “silver-haired” elderly. Among the new users, teenagers accounted for 49.0%, while those aged 50-59 and those aged 60 and above accounted for 15.2% and 20.8%, respectively.Additionally, with the continued implementation of measures to improve payment convenience in the first half of the year, the ease of mobile payments has significantly increased. In the first half of the year, the usage rate of online payments among internet users aged 60 and above in China reached 75.4%. Over 5 million inbound travelers used mobile payments, marking a fourfold year-on-year increase, with more than 90 million transactions totaling over 14 billion yuan - both figures showing a sevenfold increase compared to the previous year.Source: Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs CommissionWireless Broadband Alliance deploys networks for Australian communitiesPhoto: Smart Cities WorldIn October 2024, the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) announced the launch of the OpenRoaming deployment in five remote Central Australian communities and 11 “town camps” in Alice Springs, providing hundreds of residents with free, secure Internet access through Easyweb Digital’s solar-powered Community Wi-Fi Hubs. Each of the autonomous assets deployed in the project will be powered by a standalone solar headend, and weather-proofed against the extreme desert environment.The deployment will provide the largely indigenous residents with seamless switching between a growing number of Easyweb networks that support OpenRoaming in towns and community centers across Central Australia. A combination of OpenRoaming, WiFi and geostationary and low earth orbit satellite backhaul aims to provide unprecedented redundancy and reliability in a region long characterized by poor communications and devastating social disadvantage.Source: Smart Cities WorldRwanda accesses 4G LTE system with Korea TelecomKorea Telecom Rwanda Network (ktRN) is the only 4G LTE infrastructure company in Rwanda, jointly invested by the Government of Rwanda and ktRN exclusively for wholesale provision of universal mobile broadband network in Rwanda using 4G LTE technology that is now 100% accessible in all parts of the country.In 2017, ktRN invested in solar power base stations as a long-term solution to the problem of unreliable and unstable national on-grid power supply. The first station was set up to generate electricity for an innovative internet connectivity antenna that has been raised in the middle of the Vision City high end housing estate in Gacuriro. The 36-meter antenna, camouflaged as a palm tree, connected the neighborhood to 4G LTE high speed internet within a radius of one kilometer.Source: The South African Institute of International Affairs, TaarifaHuawei supports Myanmar to strengthen telecom infrastructureIn 2015, China launched the Digital Silk Road (DSR), which has become a significant part of Beijing’s overall Belt and Road initiative. The DSR assistance goes toward improving recipients’ telecommunications networks, artificial intelligence capabilities, cloud computing, e-commerce and mobile payment systems, surveillance technology, smart cities, and other high-tech areas. China has signed memorandums of understanding for cooperation on the DSR with 17 countries. The DSR also provides support to Chinese exporters, including many well-known Chinese technology companies, such as Huawei.Photo: Council on Foreign RelationsFor example, early in 2013, Huawei began its involvement in Myanmar – it donated more than US$5 million of equipment to Myanmar for a various purposes, including the SEA Games organization and mobile technology systems. Since 2018, the country’s Ministry of Transport and Communications has been working with Huawei in order to deploy 5G broadband services across Myanmar within the next five years. A further push was given to its 5G plans in February 2019 when Huawei pledged to increase digital literacy and the usage of Internet of Things in Myanmar.Source: Council on Foreign Relations, Eurasia ReviewLONGi and Power Solution jointly launch SDG project “Light Up Africa”On January 15, 2024, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 officially kicked off in Davos, Switzerland, with the theme “Rebuilding Trust.” During the Davos Summit, LONGi Green Energy Technology, a leading renewable energy company, signed a partnership agreement with Shenzhen Power Solution, a professional off-grid solar home system manufacturer, to provide tailor-made solar products, including cells and modules, to off-grid communities in Africa to help alleviate poverty and improve education.It is reported that over 780 million people, about 10% of the world’s population, live in off-grid regions, most in the Sub-Saharan Desert areas. Founded in 2009, Power Solution has offered products in 66 countries and helped over 7.8 million families.Li Xia, founder of Power Solution, received the 2024 Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards - Social Entrepreneurs in Davos. She was the only recipient from China this year and is the first Chinese woman to be honored for this award. Li said that Power Solution has adhered to its original intention of being a social enterprise, deeply cultivated in Africa in the past 15 years, and is committed to bringing Chinese solar products to poor families, so that affordable clean energy technology can serve the people at the bottom of society.Source: Xinhua Finance, ANTARASustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiated by the United NationsOn January 1, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change while ensuring that no one is left behind.
